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Four teens go
into the woods in the search of a long
lost village which is said to have a curse lying over
it. Well, they find the village but they also unleash
the curse and they soon realize that they've just put
the lives of everyone in the hidden village in jeopardy.
Will they be able to right this wrong or will they all
fall victim to the ogre?
Wait, so I'm confused. So The Hulk was really an ogre
or...? And why is an ogre wearing pants? That's a bit
vain don't you think? Oh and how come every house in
the village seems to be inhabited even though it's
implied that they've been sacrificing their own people
to the ogre since the 19th century? Shouldn't most
houses be abandoned? So you're probably as confused as
I am (and believe me, the ending won't give you any
answers, it will just raise even more questions),
especially about my first question. Why I ask that
question is because the ogre in this campy horror
flick looks like The Hulk's ugly twin brother but we'll
get back to the ogre itself later.
Now, the story is fairly basic and it really feels like
this movie was only made to fill an empty time-slot in
the schedule. In the 1800's, a small village made a
pact with an ogre which would grant them eternal life.
Well, the pact had a catch, every year they would have
to sacrifice a person to the ogre. Now, four friends
have found out about the small forgotten village and
have decided to try to find it. Well, they're lucky...
or should I say unlucky? They stumble onto the village
and accidentally awaken the beast too early. The ogre
starts wreaking havoc in the small village and the
teens have to figure out a way to kill it. You know,
at least there is a story to be found in here - which
is more than can be said for most DTV horror flicks
these days. It's not necessarily a good story, but it's
a story - and a surprisingly original one considering
that this was produced by the Sci-Fi channel.
You know, I love Chelan Simmons. She's not the best
actress but for some reason I love her and she was the
main reason as to why this movie turned out to be
somewhat watchable. Despite having to deliver some of
the corniest lines ever, she does an okay job and it's
nice to see that even though she's getting better jobs
these days, she still embraces her inner scream queen
every once in a while. The movie also looks decent and
Steven Monroe does his best to make it stand out from
the other Sci-Fi channel originals. Unfortunately, all
is not well with this movie. As I pointed out before,
it leaves a lot of questions unanswered and the script
is anything but water-proof. The CGI-effects are also
amazingly craptacular. The ogre looks like something
you'd find in the original version of Quake.
In the end, Ogre is okay for being a Sci-Fi original,
but due to its poor script, it doesn't manage to keep
you interested until the end. The pacing is a bit off,
it's ridiculously predictable and even though they've
obviously made an effort to do something new, it
simply doesn't work very well. I'd much rather watch
another horror flick about a man-eating crocodile than
one about a killer ogre again. If there's nothing else
on TV, turn the damn thing off and go to the cinemas.
It was obviously cut but we do get some dismembered
limbs and a head bit off. Not much gore in this version
but I don't know what the DVD version will be like.
Sci-Fi channel, couldn't care less.
Steven R. Monroe has directed some homeruns and some
real stinkers. Ogre doesn't necessarily smell all that
bad, but it does leave a bad taste in your mouth after
you're done watching it. If you want to watch a campy
horror flick with poor CGI effects in it, be my guest,
but don't say I didn't warn you.
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